The Guzman Monthly

June 2015 | Volume 2, Issue 6

Index

• Welcome

• About the author

• News (3 slides)

• Apps & Tools

• Online Learning

• MOOCs

• Administration Issues (2 slides)

• Faculty Development (3 slides)

• Student Learning (3 slides)

• New Ways of Learning (2 slides)

• Upcoming Movie & TV Trailers

Welcome to the next issue of “The Guzman Monthly”. In this publication I will collect and list some recent articles on higher education issues, online learning best practices, deliver some tools/app suggestions and links to interesting news/videos on the web published in the past month. Planned release schedule is between the last week of the past month and the first full week of the current month.

To view previous newsletters please visit my slideshare page: http://www.slideshare.net/TJtheTiger

My name is Tony Guzman and I serve as the Director of Online Programs at the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Social Work (SSW).

I also oversee the UB SSW Podcast series: inSocialWork®, and the Technology in Social Work Resource Center. Feel free to listen to some of our podcasts and review our resources.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tguzman/Scoop.it!: http://www.scoop.it/t/the-future-of-higher-education-by-tony-guzman-1Twitter: https://twitter.com/professor_tg

News

This opinion piece from Hunter Rawlings certainly should make us think about how we consider and treat higher education today. Any thoughts for or against?http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/09/college-is-not-a-commodity-stop-treating-it-like-one/

This is an interesting article showing how we have reached a level of parity between federal and state funding. It has a lot of data to show the past and present of funding sources. How long will this parity last?http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2015/06/federal-and-state-funding-of-higher-education

This article shares recent survey results on technology skills. Interestingly, millennials did not do as high as many may suspect they should. Surprises?http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/11/report-6-of-10-millennials-have-low-technology-skills.aspx

News (cont.)

This article shares on the new Journal of Competency-Based Education to launch next year by Western Governors U and Wiley.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/11/western-governors-u-to-launch-journal-of-competency-ed.aspx

This article shares a lot of data and background on the rising costs of tuition. A very interesting article and worth the read of every parent who has a student in or going to college.http://www.cnbc.com/id/102746071

Wearable Sales are continuing to increase for the second year in a row. At some point, like the tablet market, we should see a saturation point be hit, but when?http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/22/wearable-market-stays-fit-with-triple-digit-gains.aspx

News (cont.)

This article talks about Apple’s recent purging of Civil War educational apps seemingly because of their inclusion of the Confederate Flag. While I am extremely saddened by the recent events in SC and my thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims of this attack, I do not believe we should no longer teach on the subject and share both sides of the war. This may have been a bit too far Apple and I hope you reconsider the extent of your purge of apps.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/25/some-educational-apps-go-missing-as-apple-purges-images-of-confederate-flags-from-the-app-store.aspx

Apps & Tools

This article addresses the argument of, “What is more effective: original or curated content?”http://heidicohen.com/content-marketing-original-versus-curated-content/

This article shares some good tools that will help a computer read documents for any of your students who may have difficulty reading.http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/06/3-good-text-to-speech-tools-for.html

Online Learning

This article gives some guidance on how to improve your student’s learning by re-designing your threaded discussions in your online courses.http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/how-to-foster-critical-thinking-student-engagement-in-online-discussions/

This report shares results from a recent survey of online students and what they considered important to their learning and success in the course. Anything come as a surprise?http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/18/report-clear-objectives-and-ease-of-use-key-to-successful-online-courses.aspx

MOOCs

This is a list of over 180 MOOCs available in the month of June from multiple sources. Enjoy!

http://edtechreview.in/e-learning/1956-moocs-online-courses-june-2015

Administration Issues

This article shares from the “Evolving Post-PC Endpoint Model at Indiana University” session at the recent Citrix Synergy conference in Orlando, FL. It shows five steps that IU is taking or plans to take that will move it beyond the PC.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/05/12/5-strategies-to-create-a-post-pc-environment.aspx

This article addresses how Houston Community College is striving to keep up with the ever growing demand for more bandwidth on campus.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/09/more-bandwidth-per-user-keeping-up-with-student-demand.aspx

This article shares some ways to help change the culture of your IT teams in higher education.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/11/10-ways-to-change-a-higher-ed-it-culture.aspx

Administration Issues (cont.)

This article shares data indicating the high need for more college graduates by 2025 and shares the opinion that one way to help is to fix the FAFSA process.http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2015/06/Getting-More-Students-Across-the-Finish-Line

Bring your own device (BYOD) has now become BYOE (bring your own everything). This article talks about how higher education IT departments are handling this major transition.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/25/tackling-byoe-in-higher-ed.aspx

Faculty Development

This article shares some ideas on how to best accommodate varying faculty schedules and commitments around your instructional design professional development needs. Has anyone used these suggestions?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/flexible-faculty-development-opportunities/

This article shares some interesting things that make up a 21st century teacher. How many of these are you already doing?http://www.techteachercenter.com/15-characteristics-of-a-21st-century-teacher/

This article and infographic tackle many reasons why teachers do not use technology in the classroom. What are ways to address these issues?http://dailygenius.com/10-reasons-teachers-do-not-use-education-technology/

Faculty Development (cont.)

As a follow-up to an earlier post on why teachers do not use technology in the classroom, here is an article that shares 10 technology tools to consider learning so you can bring them into the classroom. Many of these are new to me, how about others?http://pikemalltech.com/digital-tools-for-teaching/

This article addresses an interesting question: What is teaching without learning? As most faculty have wrapped up their teaching duties for the year, this is a good question to ponder and reflect on at this point of time.http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/what-is-teaching-without-learning/

This article encourages faculty to consider making their syllabi more lively and interesting, since these are the first impressions a student have of the course in question. Thoughts?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/tonic-for-the-boring-syllabus/

Faculty Development (cont.)

This article asks faculty to reflect on their word choices to help their students learn more and realize that they are earning their grade not being given a grade. I already implement quite a few of these suggestions, what about you?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/the-power-of-language-to-influence-thought-and-action/

This article shares a faculty experience on using Google Apps to increase the level of student engagement in their classroom. Has anyone else done this?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/using-google-web-apps-to-improve-student-engagement/

Student Learning

This article shares a different way to approach asking questions in your classrooms to help spur discussion and further learning among your students.http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/teacher-questions-an-alternative

This article shares some great tips on how to help build up your student into a stronger learner without being a helicopter professor. Thoughts?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-careers/how-to-avoid-being-a-helicopter-professor/

This article addresses the question: Can we teach our students to pay attention?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/can-we-teach-students-how-to-pay-attention/

Student Learning (cont.)

This article shares survey results on video use in courses. Any surprises?http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/09/report-latest-word-on-optimal-length-for-education-videos.aspx

We all remember being in some classes freshmen year and wondering how is this applicable to my career goals? Well, this article gives a few tips on how to better engage your students when teaching courses they may not have interest in because they do not see the direct impact on their overall career goals.http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/helping-students-find-meaning-in-core-curriculum-courses/

This article shares some research results on motivating students to do their class readings. Any surprises?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/getting-students-to-do-the-reading/

Student Learning (cont.)

This article suggests some characteristics of the 21st century learner. What are you thoughts on this? Do we learn the same as in centuries past or are these valid characteristics?

http://globaldigitalcitizen.org/9-characteristics-of-21st-century-learning

New Ways of Learning

This article shares quantitative research results that indicate that active-learning is more beneficial to the students than traditional lecture format in the classroom. Thoughts?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/more-evidence-that-active-learning-trumps-lecturing/

This study attempts to show the value, if any, of texting, tweeting, and messaging in class. Any surprises here?https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/08/study-examines-impact-texting-and-tweeting-academic-performance

This reports shares on how prior learning credit increases persistence.http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/06/08/report-giving-credit-for-prior-learning-boosts-persistence.aspx

New Ways of Learning (cont.)

This article shares an updated version of KWL (What do I Know, What do I Want to know and what have I Learned). How many use this in their classrooms?http://langwitches.org/blog/2015/06/12/an-update-to-the-upgraded-kwl-for-the-21st-century/

By now most of you have heard and probably experienced the flipped classroom, but what about flipped assessments? This article shares some interesting, and maybe unorthodox, ways to assess your students if your using the flipped classroom approach. Thoughts?http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/flipping-assessment-making-assessment-a-learning-experience/

This article shares some great tips on how to complete a Pecha Kucha presentation using PowerPoint.http://globaldigitalcitizen.org/how-to-make-great-presentations-with-pecha-kucha

Upcoming Movie & TV Trailers

Terminator: Genisys Trailer, Release Date: 7/1/2015https://youtu.be/jNU_jrPxs-0

Ant-Man Trailer, Release Date: 7/17/2015https://youtu.be/pWdKf3MneyI

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Trailer, Release Date: 7/31/2015https://youtu.be/hmidVepX2gQ

Full Favorite Trailer playlist on my YouTube channelhttp://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4nJo9D2kEs3McWG18x5UmIcSsVhNjq0

Thanks for checking this monthly newsletter out and hope to see around again next time!